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PTC Project- '86 Swirl

Here is a really cool project the PTC is currently working on, posted with permission of the owner. This started life as a yellow Standard from 1986, but a few years later the owner decided to give it a swirl paint job. The bridge area was also modified to give an “up route” type of effect. The guitar is now back at the factory and we are now in the process of bringing her back to her former glory. I will post progress pics as things happen. I hope you enjoy them

This one had a high profile stable mate for a while. That is Mr. Santana's #1 next to her.

headstock paint

After a few gentle passes with some sand paper, the original color and logo are revealed

As mentioned, the bridge area was modified for a "trem up route" effect

Thanks for posting that Shawn. I never would have thought about repairing that bridge area like that. I would have tried to fit a piece of maple in there and then used grain filler to cover the seams. That epoxy method just takes care of all of that.

Congratulations on bringing a truly rare old PRS back to it's original glory.

You should seriously consider doing one last detail since you're going this far... have them pull the old frets, radius sand the fretboard (to get the fingernail marks out), and install new frets BEFORE they paint it (to cover the fret tangs).

Congratulations on bringing a truly rare old PRS back to it's original glory.

You should seriously consider doing one last detail since you're going this far... have them pull the old frets, radius sand the fretboard (to get the fingernail marks out), and install new frets BEFORE they paint it (to cover the fret tangs).

It would suck to see you go that far and not finish the restoration.

Not my guitar, but I have done tons of work on a few instruments and built a few as well and never considered something as easy as what they just did for that repair. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Funny someone asked about Steve Vai. The swirl was actually done in 1988 or '89 by Joe Despagni who did the swirls for Vai. The route was done by another luthier in NYC and was actually very effective. I am the original owner and I played this guitar daily for years and I am very psyched that the team at PRS is resoring it back to its former glory. Great job so far! Thanks for the progress report.

great job!
Can I ask though, why didn't you level the fretboard a bit before refretting?
As far as I can see, there seemed to be some serious "grooves" in it?
Was there not enough material to work with, o did the owner prefer to leave them there?

We did level the board and we got about 75% of the divots out. There is not enough wood on the board to remove all of the divots without losing the side dots as well. The only other option would have been to replace the board alltogether, but then the owner would have lost the Brazilian Rosewood.

Hey Shawn,
Looking great so far. The frets look terrific. As for a few divots, they are fine by me. I believe the guitar has "earned" them. I mean, people pay some guitar manufacturers big bucks to buy a new guitar that looks all beat up. LOL.
I'm glad you're taking such good care of my favorite ax!

We did level the board and we got about 75% of the divots out. There is not enough wood on the board to remove all of the divots without loosing the side dots as well. The only other option would have been to replace the board alltogether, but then the owner would have lost the Brazilian Rosewood.